Launching our new police off-road bikes

A new set of off-road bikes will help us protect our green spaces, keeping them clear and safe for families, locals, and our communities to enjoy.

We are regularly called to reports of motorbikes being used antisocially across a range of locations in Derbyshire. We know this is a nuisance for many local communities and have been working on a project to help tackle this problem.

This is why we’re proud to announce the launch of our new off-road bikes, we hope this new project will enable us to act quickly and prevent further disruption to our local parks, nature reserves and trails.

The new fully operational off-road motorcycles are unmarked but fitted with lights and sirens. They will be available across Derbyshire to help with the policing of this problem.

We have over ten priority areas already highlighted which will be targeted within Derbyshire, these areas have been reported to our officers by both members of the public, and our local policing teams.

The bikes mean our officers can easily approach and challenge anyone found riding off-road. Resulting in more illegal bikes being seized, and more anti-social behaviour being prevented.

To launch this project, we have worked with a range of partners to help fund the new bikes required for our officers. These partners include the District/ Borough Community Safety Partnerships based at the local authorities, the Police and Crime Commissioner and the Home Office Safer Streets Fund.

Police and Crime Commissioner Angelique Foster said: “My budget for 2022-23 made our Roads Policing Unit more resilient with investment in new vehicles and resources.  In the coming year there will be further investment.

“These off-road bikes will help Derbyshire Constabulary’s police officers to tackle a raft of crimes which blight our neighbourhoods. They will play an important role in the work to tackle the anti-social and criminal use of motorcycles, as well as a range of rural problems such as machinery theft, trespass and poaching. 

“It’s important that police officers are provided with the right equipment and training to tackle the changing nature of crime and anti-social behaviour and I am pleased to see my investment being used to address problems that are of concern to local communities.”

Councillor Matthew Eyre, Cabinet Member for Community Development, Place and Tourism said, “We remain absolutely committed to our on-going efforts to tackle neighbourhood crime and anti-social behaviour issues across Derby, which includes illegal riding.

“Not only is illegal riding and anti-social behaviour a nuisance issue, but it puts road and pavement users at risk and has the potential to cause significant harm to the public. 

“The scrambler bikes are a great addition for our local policing teams to help tackle nuisance riding, and I am proud that Derby City Council’s Home Office Safer Streets Fund has contributed to this by funding a forth bike, so our local policing teams can deploy the bikes in pairs across Derby.” 

Adam Titterton, Sergeant in the Roads Policing Unit said. “We’ve seen a rise in the number of reports we receive about the illegal use of motorbikes in some of Derbyshire’s most beautiful parks and countryside.

“Over the last few months, we’ve been working hard behind the scenes to source scrambler bikes such as these, so that we have the tools to better target this antisocial behaviour. We’re looking forward to getting out and speaking to people, so that we can prevent further anti-social behaviour and better educate the illegal riders in the law and how to legally use off-road bikes.”

The below video is an example of our officers testing the new bikes out in some of our priority areas after receiving permission from the council. We’ve already gained positive feedback from many members of the public and look forward to listening to more feedback whilst we’re out.